We’ve been having some really fruitful and lovely conversations this summer about how to move into the next version of The Resilience Hub & the Portland Maine Permaculture meetup group that it organizes.

Everyone from absolute newcomers to participants who were around back in the beginning (2005, over 800 meetups ago!) have come together to noodle on what we love best, what’s needed now and what could serve our communities into the future.

If you would like to share your thoughts about the Hub and its next direction(s), please contact us.

I am excited to announce that I have accepted a position at the UNH Sustainability Institute as Communication Director for Food Solutions New England starting in March. More details to come but this work will allow me to leverage my experience & skills in service to our entire region. If you don’t already know about Food Solutions New England, check out the link below. http://www.foodsolutionsne.org/

I will shift into an active board member role for The Resilience Hub, supporting my current co-workers and other members of the local permaculture community to develop the next iteration of what the Hub might want to be. I will still teach Permaculture Design Course weekends through the summer as well, so no change there for the moment. I continue to love the work that has evolved at The Resilience Hub and, no matter what happens, will always be proud of it and the lifelong friends I’ve made there.

It’s amazing to think back on all the developments that came out of the Portland Permaculture Group and, after that, The Resilience Hub over the past thirteen years! More than 800 events organized, nearly 2900 members, more than 20 permaculture courses with hundreds of graduates, hundreds of design clients, dozens of permablitzes…. plus so much more that we can only guess at. I am so proud of the work of our community as catalyzed by The Resilience Hub.

So, in summary, I’m not disappearing and I’m still thrilled to be part of The Resilience Hub community as it evolves, but my day-to-day efforts will shift to regional food system work with Food Solutions New England. Wish me luck and stay in touch as the Hub moves into its next phase!

The Resilience Hub, based in the East Bayside Neighborhood of Portland, is looking for a person/organization that would like to have a really nice space to work in Portland for the next 6-12 months (negotiable). We are not using all of our space to its fullest right now while we are in a redesign phase and one of the rooms (the “cave”) is ideal for getting work done, meeting with clients, having a basecamp in Portland, etc.

Details:

Workstation area (approx 24sf) and attached small meeting space (approx 200sf)* (all locked away from the common area when not being used)

Ceiling-mount for projector if needed.

24h access to the “cave” and common spaces.

Includes heat, internet, trash/recycling/compost pickup.

Common area (shared with Resilience Hub & Maine Tool Library) with bathroom, “kitchenette” area for coffee/tea service, refrigerator.

Evening and weekend use possible based on a shared calendar system with other users of the space.

We all share in some light cleaning & keeping the door free of snow when applicable.

*Meeting space is directly attached and open to the workstation desk area. Suitable for client meetings or for groups of up to 5-6 people. Photos are shown with our current furnishings. We can move those out or you can borrow them for your own use.

Requested contribution (we can write up a memo with agreements) is $300/month.

Maine Coast Waldorf School in Freeport, in collaboration with The Resilience Hub, has received a $1500 grant from Whole Kids Foundation to take its beehive educational programming to a whole new level. In addition to all the wonderful items that just arrived (see photo), the $1500 check will be used to purchase beekeeping equipment and supplies – including beekeeper’s suits! Now it will be possible for older students to work directly with the beehives under the direction of Brian Kessler, our caretaker, certified beekeeper, permaculture certificate-holder, and owner of the beehives on our campus.

Combined with the design and teaching support from Heather Foran and The Resilience Hub, this grant will enable us to offer workshops and other learning opportunities for both our students and the greater community.

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The Resilience Hub and Maine Coast Waldorf School are in the third year of an experimental collaboration, bringing permaculture design thinking, biodynamic approaches and Waldorf education together on in one place. The collaboration seeks to further enliven the 80-acre campus and support the school’s educational mission while also becoming another node of permaculture and biodynamics activity in service to the broader community in Maine.

Welcome to the 2017 Maine Permaculture Day Events!

This is a decentralized and distributed event, with open houses and events offered by volunteers and permaculture practitioners from across the state. Remember that there is no one “version” of permaculture expression and every site is different, both in approach as well as in aesthetics. There is something to learn at every site, especially if you can speak with the host(s) and find out about their permaculture journey.

IMPORTANT FOR VISITORS:

Please know that this is not a “manicured garden tour” type of event! These are often working landscapes and works-in-progress. Your hosts may be only a year or two into implementing a 5 or 10-year (or longer!) plan for their site. The idea here is to stimulate connection and conversation. What are the goals of the site? What elements are supporting that? What has worked well? What was challenging? What was surprising?

In some cases, event hosts and organizers have given parking guidance for you to follow (in the directory listings if applicable).

The open house hosts may or may not have their bathrooms available for use so the best approach would be to attend to those needs prior to arriving at someone’s place.

Farm store is accessible. Orchard property is located alongside a mountain with uneven/rocky terrain.

We will show how to brew compost tea at 12 noon. Orchard tours will be conducted as necessary. Apple tastings will be on-going.

Social Permaculture Fireside Chat

Rural

Rachel Lyn Rumson

George Perley House

6:00 PM to 9:00 PM

8 George Perley House

Gray, Maine 04039

Guests at this event will gather for a light pot luck meal, roam gardens and circle up for a fireside chat about relationship and place as it pertains to social permaculture design, strategy and application. Rachel Lyn Rumson will facilitate the conversation. The location is at George Perley House B&B where Rachel Lyn and her family are running an established bed and breakfast in a colonial farmhouse. The B&B serves a full, locally raised and farmed country breakfast. They are expanding on-site food and fuel production, and adding classes in in cooking, gardening, fermentation, and canning to their community offerings. This location features permaculture food gardens that are three years in the making, a mature orchard and flower gardens, chickens and ducks, a small greenhouse, composting, rain catchment and sit spots are emerging throughout.

Basically an open tour of the .49 acre project in progress. This is its fourth year. See the awesome, huge herb spiral, a hazelnut hedge, tons of new fruit trees (11) added in the past couple years), a pond we dug 4 years ago with beach plums and highbush cranberry surrounding it, as well as fish and lilies. Probably more we’re not remembering!

Plenty of street parking. Its pretty rough terrain, so I’d keep that in mind if you have a mobility issue (wheels definitely wouldn’t work, except what you could see from the driveway!)

Street Family Residence Open House

Open House

Suburban

JoAn Street

2:00 PM to 6:00 PM

435 Bayview St., Yarmouth 04096

207-939-0103

We are in the first year of implementing a permaculture design done by Shana Hostetter of the Resilience Hub. The residence includes an orchard, berry and nut groves, a kitchen garden and a chicken coop. In the future we will have cultivated shiitake mushrooms, solar power and water catchment on the house.

The house had no landscaping upon purchasing the home in December 2016. In a matter of weeks we installed raised beds, cut a swale, added 10 yards of compost and sheet mulched much of the front yard. Early this spring, the beds were sheet mulched and we planted: Apples (3 varieties), blue berries(3), raspberry bushes(5), chokeberries, elderberries(2), asparagus, strawberries, grapes (2), hardy kiwis (3) and many bee and insect friendly flowers. There is still a lot to be done, but already many neighbors have stopped to comment on the incredible progress they see already!

This is a self-directed walk through the front, back, and side areas of a property that has been taking shape as a permaculture garden since 2012. Carol Karlsen, who is a PDC graduate and the property’s owner, and David Homa of Post Carbon Designs, who is largely responsible for the garden’s design and implementation, will be on hand for questions and conversation about how the garden has grown and changed over the past five years. Handouts, plant markers, drawings and detailed posters show the garden’s evolution from the initial pre-permaculture site through a 2013 community permablitz and more recent transformations into a food forest in an urban, off-peninsula Portland neighborhood.

Plenty of street parking; driveway is available for anyone with mobility challenges

Bramblewood Urban Homestead Open House

Suburban

Mihku Paul

Bramblewood Urban Homestead

8:30 AM to 1:30 PM

1603 Westbrook St, Portland, 04102

207 899 5192

I have established a small urban homestead in Portland, with integrated fruit trees, berry brambles, perennial vegetables and aesthetic landscaping. I have a composting operation, greenhouse and box beds for annual veggie production. I also have a small flock of laying hens, and have raised organic meat birds. There are at least 15 fruit trees at Bramblewood. Apples, plums and peaches are now fruiting. Site is less than 5 years old.

I will be waiting at the rear of my house – sitting under the grape vine – to give visitors a tour.

To view photos of past work parties held here since 2006, go to the “Permaculture” section of my website – 1/3 of the way down where a photo of my late husband Francis has been posted. And use the hyperlinks I created there: http://www.elainemcgillicuddy.com/about/about-us/

This is a .2-acre urban single-family property four years after we hosted the first permablitz of 2013. In not very much space, we have peach, pear, apple and cherry trees, blueberry bushes, a strawberry barrel, elderberries, hazelnuts, a grape arbor, and a growing number of raised (and non-raised) beds, while having left the dog run alone and keeping a grassy area for our son. We are overwhelmed with an abundance of fruits, herbs, and vegetables, including many perennials, and have also been adding in pollinator attractors and companion planting, comfrey, etc. Compost bins from recycled fence parts, worm bin. An example of how much can be done on a smallish amount of land on an urban site with only moderate sun exposure, and because the garden is exposed to the street on two sides, it offers dog-resistant decorative plantings outside the fence and is designed to look nice.

See what can be done on a tiny 1/10th acre lot with lead in the soil. Learn how some things might have been done differently with 2 1/2 year hindsight, including lessons around building a small pond. Future plans on burner, including a de-pave. Your suggestions welcome.

On street parking – avoiding parking right in front of the lot will give better access for all. Tiny lot with small passageways, but much can be seen from the street, sidewalk and driveway.

Will be available to answer questions and give tours as desired. Handout available with summary of design wishes and challenges, lessons learned, and future steps.

THANKS TO ALL WHO HELPED AT MY BLITZ! Hope you can come by to see the results of your work. Will have some refreshments for all.

Food Forest Exploration

Open House

Suburban

Rocky Crockett

Alan Day Community Garden

alandaygarden@wordpress.com

9:00 AM to 2:00 PM

26 Whitman Street

Norway 04268

346-0708

We will spend a day in the Community Garden Food Forest giving tours, tending the plants, learning about perennial polycultures, and discussing best-practices moving forward.

Tree Crops, Perennial Vegetables, No-Dig Methods, Rainwater Collection, Renewable Energy, Forest Gardening / Food Forest Techniques, Composting (any kind), Annual Veg Production, Natural Play Spaces, A Drawn Design for the Property (or some of the property), Crops Grown for Market, We plan to get some scything done that day, so there can be demos

We generally request that the majority of people park on the street, so that people who need to park inside the garden can drive in. However, not all areas of the garden are accessible to wheelchairs or other mobility devices.

Parking for a handful of cars in the driveway. Much of the site is easily accessible, though 100 yards or so from the parking area.

No dogs please

“This is an opportunity to share ideas, talk shop and cross-pollinate”

Rural

Randy Smith

Rocky Hill Farm & Adventures LLC

www.rockyhillfarmadventures.com

9:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Novelty Dr. , Carmel 04419

207-233-5338

randy@rockyhillfarmadventures.com

Rocky Hill Farm & Adventures is a professional guide service inspired by Permaculture and Ecopreneurship. We are off the grid, no running water, or electricity. This year marks our third in the development of our permaculture project and we are excited to see where the future will bring our site. Our primary goal for guiding adventures and expeditions is creatively develop active appreciation for the land with an emphasis on health, enjoyment, and the environment. We invite everyone to join us for a unique and healthy Maine adventure, and now we invite you to join us for an “opportunity to share ideas, talk shop and cross-pollinate”. The past three years have been mostly learning about soil fertility, what will grow for us, and water. At this time we are considering projects such as a pond, swales,and some Hugelkultur. Our site is unique, and non traditional. I see this as a chance to share experiences, ideas, and knowledge while getting out to meet people you would not have met otherwise.

No-Dig Methods, Renewable Energy, Green or Natural Building Techniques, Annual Veg Production, Natural Play Spaces, A Drawn Design for the Property (or some of the property)

To get to the site you drive to the end of Novelty Dr. past the last house until you find a distinct marker I will set out. From her you will walk a short distance through a wooded path to the site. If there are very serious mobility issues it can be arranged to drive the visitor in. Otherwise we ask you to walk in.

It would be wonderful if people could contact me ahead of time if they are interested. This way I am not up in the air rather I will have visitors or not. I do live a couple hours north of this Portland based group.

Foxgreen Farm, jiovi® brand Permaculture Nursery Open House

Rural

Thomas

Foxgreen Farm

www.jiovi.com

9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

527 N HOWLAND RD

HOWLAND 04448

508-212-2468

We have established a thriving permaculture nursery with nation-wide recognition. Please stop by and visit. Potted plants available. On August 19th you can join us constructing our first 30×100 foot High Tunnel!

We will fire up the pizza oven at 5 pm, drinks on the porch as needed, Very easy to wander thru twelve year fruit forest compact yet abundant, Charles and Julia Yelton designed pond system, Goddess pizza oven made at an early permablitz, ten year Biodynamics flower garden and kick-ass lounging porch where you can lounge to view said garden in full bloom in Maine in August. If you schedule it correctly you can sip some Tree Spirit Maine made libations, this is a replicable business idea throughout the state, glad to share what I know :)

This Permaculture location housed multiple Charles and Julia Yelton early permaculture classes. Anyone reading this email will do themselves a favor to come to Orono to witness what twelve years later can be brought out with permaculture: abundant food and beauty, healing gardens and any space is a sacred place. I welcome drop by any permaculture visitors this August, tent at will and all housing is donation based from now till August 28, 2017. It feels like everything blooms in August in Maine, true beauty abounds

“Tomorrow” Movie Screening

barbara russell

MID MAINE PERMACULTURE Film Screening

Railroad Square Cinema

12:00 Noon

17 Railroad Square

Waterville04901

207 397-2007

We will share in watching the movie “Tomorrow” which addresses ways in which we can change the dire direction of some of the activities man has got himself caught up in. There is a typical movie ticket charge at the door. Afterwards, we will meet in groups to discuss some of the ways we can initiate the changes needed in our communities.

social and community actions for neighbors to take part in to reverse some of the ‘not so great’ directions our society has been moving in. Topics cover environmental. economical, educational, agricultural.

ample parking available

Movie from 12 -2pm discussions 2-3ish.

We also have a permaculture demonstration garden in place outside of the theater for people to tour.

Maine Apple Camp

A workshop or other educational event

Anna Mueller

Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA)

Registration required for this special event: http://mofga.org/Events/MaineAppleCamp/tabid/3325/Default.aspx

9:00 AM to 6:00 PM

219 Trotting Park Rd., Montville

04941

(207) 568-4142

This first-ever event will bring together folks who are excited about the future of heirloom fruit varieties: How to save them, what to do with them, how to make great cider, and who to work with. Held at a traditional Maine lakeside camp in Liberty, participants will check in for 2-1/2 days and 2 nights of immersive learning and community building. All participants will stay in cabins (or camp), eat in the cafeteria and have lots of time to swim and reflect on how to take what they learned home.

Farm open house. Come see our farm in its beginning stages. We have 200 pastured chickens fertilizing our hilltop pastures, 12 American guinea hogs renovating our woods and our silvopastured egg layers and family cow. See our fruit and nut tree nursery beds and hear about our plans for all the trees we plan on planting. We will give guided tours as needed.

Our farm is not very accessible for people who are using canes, walkers, and wheelchairs. The terrain is steep and bumpy. We apologize for this inconvenience. Please park in our lot to the left halfway down the long driveway.

Maine Axe & Saw Day

A workshop or other educational event

Rural

Anna Mueller

Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA)

http://mofga.org/Events/MaineAxeandSawDay/tabid/3192/Default.aspx

10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

294 Crosby Brook Rd.

Unity 04988

(207)568-4142

Connecting people to our tool manufacturing heritage and passing down skills for the proper use and care of traditional forestry hand tools.

Tree Crops, Forest Gardening / Food Forest Techniques, Learn to effectively use hand tools in your woodlot and have the opportunity to buy some vintage axes, saws and more!